Still seems like a lot to me —

Windows 8.x reaches 200 million licenses sold

Number includes preinstalls and upgrades, but not volume licenses.

Microsoft marketing chief Tami Reller announced that the company has sold 200 million Windows 8 licenses in the 15 or so months that it has been on the market.

This number includes only OEM and retail copies of the operating system and excludes volume licenses. The company previously announced that Windows 8 had reached 100 million copies sold in May of last year, a rate of sales that matched Windows 7. That operating system, however, reached 240 million sales within the first 12 months, demonstrating that Windows 8 is clearly not selling as fast.

Still, in a PC market that's shrinking—and which started shrinking even before the release of Windows 8—200 million copies is perhaps not too shabby. PCs as a whole are not selling as fast as they were during Windows 7's heyday, and both Windows and Office are suffering as a result.

As is almost always the case with these numbers, this is a sell-in figure rather than sell-through, which is to say that it represents the number of licenses sold to OEMs and retailers and not the number sold to actual end-users. It also doesn't account for people using downgrade rights (when available). These numbers never do.

When the PC market is proclaimed to be shrinking, I'd like to know who just has a tablet and phone, but no desktop.

They are referring to new purchases. Rather than buying a new Laptop or Desktop people are holding on to the old ones and getting tablets and phones to complement or maybe even replace them. Thus the market for PCs is shrinking since less people are buying new ones every year.

When the PC market is proclaimed to be shrinking, I'd like to know who just has a tablet and phone, but no desktop.

They are referring to new purchases. Rather than buying a new Laptop or Desktop people are holding on to the old ones and getting tablets and phones to complement or maybe even replace them. Thus the market for PCs is shrinking since less people are buying new ones every year.

As has been noted in other threads, we've really reached a point of "good enough" for many users. My computer was nice in 2006, and is still pretty darn good now. Honestly, the only reason I'm considering upgrading in the next few years is to lower my power consumption and temperatures, not processing power!

I'm sure I can get a few more years out of it, especially since I recently replaced the PSU.

When the PC market is proclaimed to be shrinking, I'd like to know who just has a tablet and phone, but no desktop.

They are referring to new purchases. Rather than buying a new Laptop or Desktop people are holding on to the old ones and getting tablets and phones to complement or maybe even replace them. Thus the market for PCs is shrinking since less people are buying new ones every year.

As has been noted in other threads, we've really reached a point of "good enough" for many users. My computer was nice in 2006, and is still pretty darn good now. Honestly, the only reason I'm considering upgrading in the next few years is to lower my power consumption and temperatures, not processing power!

I'm sure I can get a few more years out of it, especially since I recently replaced the PSU.

Only reason I am considering upgrading is for games. My core 2 quad is still fine fur everything I do otherwise

Windows 7 had a sales advantage over Windows 8 because many people believed Vista to be so horrible. Personally I didn't have a problem with Vista, but agree that 7 is substantially better.

Right now, I have 8 on a workstation and 7 on a couple of notebooks, and there is nothing about 8 that makes me want to upgrade the notebooks. (In fact, I'd have to buy some additional backup software to replace the removed Windows Backup that I use for system images.No; it's not my only backup, don't worry.)

When the PC market is proclaimed to be shrinking, I'd like to know who just has a tablet and phone, but no desktop.

At our home, we are half way of the scenario you described. We do have Smartphone, Tablets, Laptop and Desktops. One thing which is 100% sure is that we don't need new desktop nor laptop unless the ones we currently have are broken.

The other trend is that for common data consumption (mostly reading news, listen to music and watching video), we use the phone and the tablet more and more often.

In other words, traditional PC manufacturers or Microsoft won't likely have us as customer anytime soon.

When the PC market is proclaimed to be shrinking, I'd like to know who just has a tablet and phone, but no desktop.

Most people have PCs, but they are definitely not upgrading them every 2-3 years like a smartphone or tablet. Since really there is no need. The mobile power is so low right now people see huge games in performance every 2 years for the basic stuff they do now. You see little gain in performance in upgrading desktop hardware to do general day stuff.

But for a poweruser, upgrades like a higher end i7, GPU and especially a SSD are great gains.

I would love to see Microsoft's numbers from Windows Update regarding install base. Seems like that would be more accurate.

On the consumer side, maybe. There's enough people who still disable updates that I'm not sure that would work. Systems behind WSUS would not be counted, either. That would remove pretty much every large business from the count.

I would love to see Microsoft's numbers from Windows Update regarding install base. Seems like that would be more accurate.

At some point during the XP era they had decided that it was better to issue security/software updates to people without licenses then to block them, so I'm not sure if they still track valid licenses.

Personaly I love win 8.1 boot to desktop and its been more stable and faster and easier to navigate than 7, and then vista, and then xp... my whole learning curve was 30 mins max... yes some software is broken but found suitable replacements like instantly...

More like "200 Million Licensed showed down the throats of unsuspecting customers"

I work at an It organization and have yet to witness this phenomenon where someone willingly asks for Windows 8.

I've been using Windows 8.x since October 2012 on my Vaio Duo 11, and this afternoon I'm setting up a Thinkpad T440 with Windows 7 as a loaner laptop for my workplace. I miss Windows 8.1, and definitely miss a touchscreen. A fiddly trackpad (the one on this isn't very good) can be mighty annoying, and sometimes I just want to reach out and tap the button I'm trying to click.

Just one person's personal experience. Everyone is different, of couse.

I would love to see Microsoft's numbers from Windows Update regarding install base. Seems like that would be more accurate.

On the consumer side, maybe. There's enough people who still disable updates that I'm not sure that would work. Systems behind WSUS would not be counted, either. That would remove pretty much every large business from the count.

The activation servers would be most accurate.

You won't see activations from corporate networks either, most have a KMS server in house for VL deployments, they don't report anything back to the mothership. I'm not even sure OEM licences ever see Microsoft's activation servers either.

Windows 7 had a sales advantage over Windows 8 because many people believed Vista to be so horrible. Personally I didn't have a problem with Vista, but agree that 7 is substantially better.

Right now, I have 8 on a workstation and 7 on a couple of notebooks, and there is nothing about 8 that makes me want to upgrade the notebooks. (In fact, I'd have to buy some additional backup software to replace the removed Windows Backup that I use for system images.No; it's not my only backup, don't worry.)

I believe that the "system images" is hidden under the "File Recovery" section now in Windows 8. (Bottom left)

Windows 7 had a sales advantage over Windows 8 because many people believed Vista to be so horrible. Personally I didn't have a problem with Vista, but agree that 7 is substantially better.

Right now, I have 8 on a workstation and 7 on a couple of notebooks, and there is nothing about 8 that makes me want to upgrade the notebooks. (In fact, I'd have to buy some additional backup software to replace the removed Windows Backup that I use for system images.No; it's not my only backup, don't worry.)

I believe that the "system images" is hidden under the "File Recovery" section now in Windows 8. (Bottom left)

Windows 7 had a sales advantage over Windows 8 because many people believed Vista to be so horrible. Personally I didn't have a problem with Vista, but agree that 7 is substantially better.

Right now, I have 8 on a workstation and 7 on a couple of notebooks, and there is nothing about 8 that makes me want to upgrade the notebooks. (In fact, I'd have to buy some additional backup software to replace the removed Windows Backup that I use for system images.No; it's not my only backup, don't worry.)

I believe that the "system images" is hidden under the "File Recovery" section now in Windows 8. (Bottom left)

In Windows 8 yes, it's gone in 8.1 however

I just checked Windows 8.1 under Control Panel - File History and the "System Image Backup" is still there. Unless it is an 8.1 Enterprise feature only?

Windows 7 had a sales advantage over Windows 8 because many people believed Vista to be so horrible. Personally I didn't have a problem with Vista, but agree that 7 is substantially better.

Right now, I have 8 on a workstation and 7 on a couple of notebooks, and there is nothing about 8 that makes me want to upgrade the notebooks. (In fact, I'd have to buy some additional backup software to replace the removed Windows Backup that I use for system images.No; it's not my only backup, don't worry.)

I believe that the "system images" is hidden under the "File Recovery" section now in Windows 8. (Bottom left)

In Windows 8 yes, it's gone in 8.1 however

I just checked Windows 8.1 under Control Panel - File History and the "System Image Backup" is still there. Unless it is an 8.1 Enterprise feature only?

Ah yes, you're right, it's even available on the pro version (not on the metro app though), where the hell did I get that idea...

When the PC market is proclaimed to be shrinking, I'd like to know who just has a tablet and phone, but no desktop.

I have several friends (5 I can think of offhand) that own a tablet or phone, and a notebook. And that notebook is basically there to occasionally sync the tablet/phone - occasional music purchases, a backup for photos, and other light usage.

I won't split hairs and claim the notebook isn't a desktop, but... all 5 of these people haven't bought a new computer of any kind since getting a tablet or phone. Those notebooks are from 4+ years ago and will likely keep serving in their current light usage until the hardware fails. This is part of the reason the PC market is shrinking - regular, average consumers are hanging on to their previous systems.

Windows 7 had a sales advantage over Windows 8 because many people believed Vista to be so horrible. Personally I didn't have a problem with Vista, but agree that 7 is substantially better.

Right now, I have 8 on a workstation and 7 on a couple of notebooks, and there is nothing about 8 that makes me want to upgrade the notebooks. (In fact, I'd have to buy some additional backup software to replace the removed Windows Backup that I use for system images.No; it's not my only backup, don't worry.)

I believe that the "system images" is hidden under the "File Recovery" section now in Windows 8. (Bottom left)

In Windows 8 yes, it's gone in 8.1 however

I just checked Windows 8.1 under Control Panel - File History and the "System Image Backup" is still there. Unless it is an 8.1 Enterprise feature only?

Ah yes, you're right, it's even available on the pro version (not on the metro app though), where the hell did I get that idea...

I was a little annoyed after installing windows 8, that the feature was missing.... until I was looking for something else one day and stumbled onto it in the File History/Recovery section. Makes "Nukes and Paves" so much faster.

I'm just glad I got in on the cheap upgrades MS was offering early on. Win8 is not a bad OS, but I'd agree it's not enough of a change to drop the full upgrade price on. I saw substantial improvements in stability with Win8, and some speed gains, but (especially with "boot to Desktop" in 8.1) the actual experience isn't much different from Win7. Metro is kinda neat

I am building a new PC in the next few days, and Win8 will go onto it. No reason not to, I can use my old Win7 disc if I want to turn the old unit into a server or something.

You won't see activations from corporate networks either, most have a KMS server in house for VL deployments, they don't report anything back to the mothership. I'm not even sure OEM licences ever see Microsoft's activation servers either.

OEM machines ship pre-activated. The OEM reports one activation to Microsoft when the machine is manufactured.

There is no conspiracy here. Shipments really are the most accurate figure that Microsoft could give for Windows sales. This is when they get paid, and this is when they recognize revenue under GAAP. If the systems fail to sell through, then the OEMs will reduce their orders, and it'll show up in next quarter's numbers.

My laptop purchase just supplied a +1 for that 200 million figure. It came with Win8, but I clean installed with Win8.1. After installing StartIsBack, it is functionally identical to my Win7 desktop. I really don't know why anyone would choose to stay with Win7.

I would love to see Microsoft's numbers from Windows Update regarding install base. Seems like that would be more accurate.

It wouldn't be more accurate for a sales figure, which is what this is.

It's not surprising to anyone that Win 7 was faster than Win 8, XP had a long life, Vista was fine but a bit too heavy for some machines at the time, so there was great thirst for Win 7. Win 8 is a solid upgrade to Win 7, but it's not worth spending money on for many people.

The bigger issue is the number of XP machines that have not made the move. Clearly this operating system is not selling through the base.

Well, depends on the holdup. If they're working "well enough" then businesses won't make it a priority. If they have software that hasn't made the jump or "costs too much to upgrade," there's that.

I hate to admit it, but I work on an OS9 iMac because the "costs too much to upgrade" issue and our database software. Sadly, our head office is going to let this turn into a disaster/emergency rather than proactively do something

Recently purchased a laptop for a new staff member. Despite the fact they we ordered and were given Win 7 it came with a Win 8 license. When I queried Dell on this, they said that this was how it is done now.